Michael Frost on Being the Missional Church

Monday, December 17, 2007 |

3 Responses to "Michael Frost on Being the Missional Church"


Cabs says:

Awesome!
I definitely want to spend some time listening thru this in its entirely soon. I have followed the Missional Church proponents for some time and have always felt it to be the closest to my understanding of the New Testament. Recently I have been turned off by the "popularization" of it's message. I am so "there" with what he says about churches snatching up the Missional Church language and pieces of it's approach and trying to tack it on to "business as usual." But he mentions main line church doing that and in my case, I sense it with the evangelical churches and mega-churches. The "main line" church I have recently "moved over to" is more missional at its core than others I've experienced, who see the "appeal" and capitalize on it as one more "approach."

7:30 PM

Chris TerryNelson says:

Hey Carol,
I think it's a problem that both mainliners and non-denominational churches commonly tack on whatever new technique will work because they're both dying and wanting to stimulate growth, and so they start seeing "missional" being advertised everywhere, and the success stories of other churches are printed, etc. etc.

The fact is, whether liberal or conservative, most churches are holding on to ideas of church being defined completely in terms of their own inwardness, growing in spirituality and in their relationship with God. And then things like social justice are just a kind of outward expression of an inward reality, a way of saying, "Hey secular culture, we're relevant!"

Like Frost says, these things aren't bad in themselves, but they aren't the organizing principal upon which all those things are directed and fulfilled. So prayer becomes very important and redefined according to mission. As soon as you start to say, as Barth does, that if your church is not living in mission it is no longer a church, and that those who seem to think they are saved (and they are, in Christ's work 2000 years ago!) are rejecting their salvation by not living according to God's call on their lives to preach and act as witnesses, THAT'S when people can become highly offended and tune out. Historically, justification and sanctification have been universal categories for all members, whereas vocation has been left for the special clergy. With Barth, vocation becomes a third aspect of salvation, and a necessary one at that. So everybody has a calling, and everyone is to live as an apostle of Jesus Christ, even those who have just converted. Like you, I find the material for this theological paradigm throughout the New Testament. It's a part of Barth that lies at the end of his life, and has not been discussed enough. The main scholar who has brought it out has been Darrell Guder here at Princeton Seminary, who I suggest you check out.

5:39 PM

Erik says:

Chris,

I only listened to about the first five minutes of this, but I am intrigued. I'm hoping to find some time over the next couple days to listen and reflect at length on Frost's thoughts. Thanks for posting it.

Shoot me an email (eleafblad@mankatocov.org) sometime in the next couple of days, if you get a chance. I'd send you one, but I'm unsure of your PTS account address. You and I are thinking, it seems to me, in some very parallel ways, and I'm going to be in Princeton in March. I'd love to get some time -- maybe an hour or so -- to grab a beer or coffee and chat about missional theology, and its implications for ministry.

Have a great Christmas.

1:41 PM

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